1. Field of the Invention
Portable barbeques customarily are built with counters installed on the left, the right or both sides of the grill unit. These counters are primarily used to hold plates, condiments, etc. and also to prepare the food to be barbecued. Portable barbeques can have one or more side burners installed, so that sauces, soups, etc. can also be cooked on the side burners and kept warm.
A problem occurs when the side burners are installed into the side counters. The side burners use some of the surface area of the side counters. So the side counters are made larger in order to allow as little work space as possible on the counter to be lost. The result of making these counters larger is that the barbecues become wider and more demanding of space. The consumer is then faced with the prospect of having larger counters and/or additional side burners with an increase in overall storage area. This can be a disadvantage when housing the barbeque in limited space, such as on a balcony or patio.
A goal of the current invention is to minimize the footprint of the barbeque, while developing a barbecue that has both sufficient work space for food preparation, in addition to one or more side burners. This will allow consumers with limited storage space to recover most of the storage space used by the barbecue, when it is not being operated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Grill cabinets are known in the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,782 by Clements et al. discloses an Outdoor Grill. The Outdoor grill has a space to place the propane tank, which is hinged within the cabinet. The heat is directed from a burner box to a cooking tray, where the tray is mounted on telescoping arms. There are major differences between the present invention and the disclosed invention. The present invention uses a portable grill that is not attached, but is positioned on the top of the cabinet. The portable grill is not a permanent attachment to the grill cabinet as is the disclosed invention, but is easily moveable from the top of the grill. The grill cabinet in the present invention is primarily used for storage of cooking utensils, spices and other implements. A secondary use of the cabinet is to house a burner which can be mounted on a swing out drawer as shown. Portability is another major difference between the two inventions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,498 by Boehler, discloses a Barbeque grill smoker attachment. This invention is made to specifically attach to an outdoor grill. It uses the existing firebox of a portable gas grill to provide the necessary heat and smoke to "smoke" the food located in the smoker box.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,599 by Stuart discloses a multiple door/tray cooker, smoker and grill. The disclosed invention is circular in design and has doors with integrally mounted and adjustable grates. It allows easy access to the cooking food without disruption of the heat to other compartments, which are capable of varied cooking times and heats. The disclosed invention is mounted on a conventional grill structure that has leaves that provide surfaces to prepare food. The grill structure is open and has wheels on one side that allows for ease of movement. The grill structure is standard in construction and does not allow for storage in apartments and other places with limited storage space.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,045 by Ducate, Jr. et al. discloses a side burner attachment for a gas fired grill. It is made to be detachably mounted to a standard gas-fired grill. This is a structure that makes the grill larger and more difficult to store in space limited places.